Next up in a sampling series of Ballantine’s Signature Distillery Collection is the Miltonduff 17 year.

So what do we know about Miltonduff?

Well, it is said to have been established in 1824 and located in the Pluscarden area of Speyside, near an old Abbey. There is a Canadian connect via Hiram Walker’s purchase of the distillery in 1936, along with Glenburgie to produce malt whisky for their blends. At the time they used Lamond Stills which then, in 1981, were replaced with regular pot stills to increase production. Relatively soon thereafter the Hiram Walker stocks were acquired by Allied – its largest distillery at the time. Then in turn, it was further acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2005.

While you won’t readily find too many ‘official’ Miltonduff single malts out there, it has certainly been around and a mainstay for Ballentine’s blends.

Ballentine’s Signature Distillery Collection 17 yr – Miltonduff

And what did we find?

Ballantine’s Miltonduff 17 year 40%

• Nose – Much more complex, cinnamon, cloves, winter berries like cranberry, after airing sweet toffee
• Taste – Darker, deeper, woodier, sweet and smooth, certainly not complex as it opens up however still rather appealing
• Finish – Cinnamon candy bite that then mellows out… just continuing the Christmasy feel
• Water – A drop (please not more!) opened up the sweetness shifting the winter berries to summer raspberries and strawberries
• Overall – Nicely balanced with everything in harmony. Certainly not complex but still sufficiently worth paying attention to that my gal pal call it a ‘Select’ for her, prompting online searches to buy an independent bottler’s offering when back in the US next week.

We revisited this whisky after about 20 minutes… alas the nose had all but disappeared – leaving mostly a toffee sweetness. However it was a completely comfortable, enjoyable dram. Nothing fancy about it but with the twinkle of the Christmas tree lights and the slight nip in the air (for Mumbai!), it was good enough to prompt after our light sample of all four whiskies a return. Yup! It was the dram of the night for us.

This one had enough going on to prompt a ‘setting’ to sip….

“Cashmere sweater and jeans in front of the fire – comfortable and anti-social but at least you got out of bed today.”

What the Ballantine’s folks had to say:

Its cinnamon spiced notes bring warmth to the Ballantine’s 17 year old blend while its creamy sweet texture forms the foundation of the blend.

And our final thoughts? The very fact that the Miltonduff even made both of us pay attention says something and my fellow taster decided it just might be worth trying to track down a Miltonduff single malt!

Related posts:

• Ballantine’s Signature Distillery Collection 17 year introduction
• Ballantine’s 17 year – Scapa 40%
• Ballantine’s 17 year – Glenburgie 40%
• Ballantine’s 17 year – Glentauchers 40%

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